Report: Bengals did turn down Redskins

UPDATED, 4:56 p.m. (Blogger has been malfunctioning all day, repeatedly delaying my posts from Paul Brown Stadium.)

In scouring my tape of Marvin Lewis' press conference from 11:30 this morning, I have come across this question and answer:

Reporter: "Have you received any trade offers for Chad (Johnson)?"

Marvin Lewis: "No."

INITIAL BLOG POSTING: After the second ESPN this afternoon, in which Lewis told Chris Mortensen that his initial report was correct and that the Bengals had turned down Washington's trade offer for Chad Johnson, The Enquirer contacted Bengals public relations director Jack Brennan.

Brennan gave the following statement to The Enquirer:

"A questioner (a television producer) said ESPN had reported a Redskins trade offer of two first-round picks. Coach Lewis denied such an offer had been made.

"But ESPN, in fact, did not report an offer of two first-round picks. Coach Lewis later confirmed that the ESPN story, as actually written, was accurate. Marvin told the Redskins that we were not interested trading Chad."

ESPN initially reported that Washington had offered its first-round pick this year (No. 21 overall) and a conditional third-round pick in 2009 that could escalate to a first-round pick if Johnson met performance levels.

Drew Rosenhaus, Johnson's agent, has not returned a phone message from The Enquirer seeking comment on the day's news of Washington's trade offer.

The Bengals would take an $8.03 million salary cap hit if they traded or released Johnson before June 1. After June 1, the Bengals could spread the salary cap hit into 2009.